Each year in September, lawmakers return to the Capitol to allow the Missouri General Assembly a chance to override bills vetoed by the governor.

This year, several of the Show Me State’s most heated political battles — in which the Republican controlled legislature is pitted against Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat — will be decided during the veto session, which begins Wednesday.

Among them: the fight over so called “right-to-work” legislation, the bill to cut Missouri’s unemployment benefits and the proposal to ban local governments from setting their own minimum wage standards and imposing certain other restrictions on businesses.

The fate of another bill, one that would have a significant impact on several Ozarks communities, will also be decided this week.

In July, Nixon vetoed a bill that would allow numerous counties numerous counties in the state to impose new court fees. In Greene County, it would allow for a new $10 fee on civil court cases. The county already has a similar fee for criminal cases.

The legislation would also make Christian and Taney counties their own judicial districts. The two counties are currently coupled together as the 38th judicial district.

Several area lawmakers have strongly supported the bill and said they would fight for an override.

“One of the bills that passed with overwhelming support was our court fee bill,” said Rep. Kevin Austin, R-Springfield. “We will take that one up and I really anticipate us overriding the governor on that one.”

Nixon called the fees “a back door tax” when he vetoed the bill.

Court fees and municipal fines have fallen under heavy scrutiny after it was revealed that local governments in St. Louis area used them to generate large amounts of revenue. This practice was criticized in a Department of Justice investigation that followed the police shooting in Ferguson that set off large-scale protests last year.

But Austin said those concerns are not applicable in southwest Missouri, and the proposed fees included in the bill are different, too.

He noted the court fees that would be allowed under the bill could only be used for construction on courthouses and jails and could not be used for local government’s regular operating expenses.

Local officials in Greene, Christian and Taney counties have called for an override of the governor’s veto.

The bill is especially important for Christian and Taney counties, Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa, told the News-Leader in July. Their shared judicial district has become overburdened with cases and would benefit from being split because that would mean each county would have its own circuit court judge, Wasson has said.

Right-to-work

Perhaps the biggest political debate in the Show Me State this year has been over legislation dubbed right-to-work.

The bill would bar workplace contracts that require all employees — even those who aren't union members — to pay union fees.

Labor leaders and other critics called the legislation an attack on workers and argued it would push down wages.

"This extreme measure would take our state backward, squeeze the middle-class, lower wages for Missouri families, and subject businesses to criminal and unlimited civil liability," Nixon said in a press release when he vetoed the bill.

Proponents argued the opposite, saying it would help entice companies to come to Missouri and would result in more jobs and higher wages.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, who carried the bill in the House, said he is convinced the legislation is an economic necessity for Missouri, especially because most of its neighbors are right-to-work states. The two that aren’t are Illinois and Kentucky.

“But I realize this issue is one that is obviously a change and anytime you are proposing a change then people get nervous and obviously the other side is very good at creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation on this issue,” Burlison said.

“And so I think at the end of the day when you look across the borders at other states and see that this is not only better for the individual workers it is better for the state economy as a whole,” Burlison added.

Burlison said he is confident the bill will get a vote during the veto session. Whether Republicans can convince enough members in their own party who voted against the legislation to switch their votes remains to be seen, he said.

They would need to convince 17 representatives and 2 senators to switch their votes in order to get the two thirds majority needed for an override.

“We’re somewhat cautiously optimistic as a caucus that we have enough votes to override the governor’s veto in the House. But it isn’t going to be easy,” said Rep. Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield.

With the exception of Rep. Charlie Norr, D-Springfield, the area’s lone Democrat, lawmakers from the Ozarks have supported right-to-work.

Most of the Republicans who have voted against the measure represent districts around St. Louis and Kansas City areas that were previously represented by Democrats and are home to a significant number of union workers, area lawmakers said.

Override questioned

Not all the bills that are vetoed can be taken up in the veto session but rather only those that are vetoed late in the session or after it is over.

This has led to a dispute between the governor and Republicans over whether a vetoed bill that would cut the state’s unemployment benefits can be overridden this week.

The Republican measure would cut the weeks of benefits available for laid-off workers from the current 20, which already ranks as one of the shortest in the nation, to as few as 13, if the statewide unemployment rate remains below 6 percent. Missouri's jobless rate was 5.8 percent in July.

An unemployment rate of over 9 percent would be needed to receive 20 weeks of benefits under the vetoed bill that links the duration of benefits to the jobless rate.

The bill also would increase the amount that must be in the state's unemployment fund before the fees are lowered for businesses that contribute to the fund and would add severance pay or termination packages as wages for unemployment aid eligibility purposes.

The House voted to override Nixon’s veto in May but the Senate did not vote to override before the session ended.

Nixon has said that means their chance to override is over.

“First of all, legally, they missed their chance to do it. They passed it early in the session and the Senate didn’t get to it in the regular session. So clearly the law does not allow them to get two chances to veto (override) something. That law is pretty clear,” the governor said during a recent visit to Missouri State University.

However, sponsoring Sen. Mike Kehoe told the Associated Press last month that he plans to move ahead with an effort to override during the veto session.

Ozarks-area lawmakers say they expect not only for the Senate to override but also for the governor to follow with a lawsuit challenging the override.

“I anticipate them taking it up. And I anticipate them having enough votes to override the governor and then here we go into Cole County Circuit Court and then probably on up to the (Missouri) Supreme Court,” Austin said.

If a lawsuit prevents the legislation from going into effect, the legislature could pass a similar bill during the next regular session, Burlison said.

Wages and bags

Rep. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said he expects the legislature will override Nixon’s veto on a Republican-backed bill that would prevent local governments from setting their own minimum wage requirements and from banning the use of plastic bags, as well as other restrictions.

That’s a shame, Hough said.

“I was one of a handful of Republicans who voted against that because we’re supposed to be the party that believes in local control,” he said.

Hough added, “We make the point continuously that the feds shouldn’t be involved in state issues because we’re closer to the people and then on the same House floor we have a bill that disallows an elected municipal body from passing an ordinance. And to me that’s just hypocritical.”

Hough’s comments echo those made by Springfield public officials.

“We find it very ironic that a legislature which has taken a strong stand against Federal encroachment in State affairs apparently sees no conflict when they choose to interfere in the affairs of local governments,” Springfield Mayor Robert L. Stephens and Springfield City Manager Greg Burris said in a joint letter earlier this year.

Haahr, the local Republican lawmaker, said there is good reason for the ban.

Much like right-to-work, a ban on local minimum wages and other business restrictions will make Missouri a more inviting place for businesses, Haahr said.

Haahr said the possibility that a city might impose a new minimum wage or business restriction like outlawing plastic bags makes Missouri’s regulatory environment more uncertain and businesses are looking for certainty.

The CEO of Associated Industries of Missouri, Ray McCarty, made a similar argument in a letter he issued when Nixon vetoed the bill.

Austin seeks leadership role

In addition to overriding vetoed legislation, Republicans will also elect some new members to its House leadership team. Austin, the local representative, is vying to become the assistant majority floor leader.

If he wins the election, which will be decided Wednesday, Austin would have more say on matters of House policy, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

■ Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, on his view of the opposition to the right-to-work legislation he carried in the House:

“But I realize this issue is one that is obviously a change and anytime you are proposing a change then people get nervous and obviously the other side is very good at creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation on this issue. And so I think at the end of the day when you look across the borders at other states and see that this is not only better for the individual workers it is better for the state economy as a whole.”

■ Rep. Kevin Austin, R-Springfield, on a bill that would allow local courts to issue new user fees that would raise revenue for courthouse and jail construction and that would split Christian and Taney counties into separate judicial districts:

“One of the bills that passed with overwhelming support was our court fee bill...We will take that one up and I really anticipate us overriding the governor on that one.”

■ Rep. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, on a vetoed bill that would block local governments from setting their own minimum wage standards or from banning plastic bags. from imposing certain other rules on businesses:

“I was one of a handful of Republicans who voted against that because we’re supposed to be the party that believes in local control...We make the point continuously that the feds shouldn’t be involved in state issues because we’re closer to the people and then on the same House floor we have a bill that disallows an elected municipal body from passing an ordinance. And to me that’s just hypocritical.”

■ Rep. Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, on whether Republicans will be able to convince party members who opposed right-to-work legislation to switch their vote:

“We’re somewhat cautiously optimistic as a caucus that we have enough votes to override the governor’s veto in the House. But it isn’t going to be easy.”